Trace My Family Tree

Quick tips to get you started with your family history research

Probably the most important step is interviewing your relatives. Start with your parents and then move on from there. If you still have grandparents or even great-grandparents don’t waste time! It’s not pleasant to think about these sorts of things but while your oldest relatives are going to be the ones who can link you further to the past, they are also the ones who are the most likely to forget. My own grandmother has given me three different variations to the mother’s surname when I started to trace my family tree.

You can do these interviews while your in the collection phase. Don’t wait until you have everything to get started. It’s always a great idea to interview your relatives while gathering documents and photos because you will likely be able to relate better to their stories. You should try to collect stories and not just random facts and try to ask open-ended questions. Here are a few questions to ask during your interview:

How did you meet your spouse? How did your parents meet?

What do you remember from your childhood?

What do you know about the origins of your surname?

Do you know any family stories that have been passed down?

Are there any heirlooms that have special stories associated with them?

What are you most proud of and would like people to remember about you?

Here’s a great list of 50 questions to ask during an interview. And don’t worry too much about being nervous. These are your family members! You’ve probably known them all your life and they will be happy to share their stories. People love talking about themselves!

In the next post we’ll go through some steps for the actual interview.

'Trace My Family Tree' is a blog dedicated to helping beginning family historians get started on their journey with resources, tips and tricks.
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